English Resources
Subject Guides
Finding Articles
Finding Books
Finding Websites
Writing Resources

Advanced Expository Writing

Resource Guides

Class Guides
Writing about the Internment of Japanese-Americans Chaucer and Middle English English Composition I
Writing about Flannery O'Connor Zora Neale Hurston English Composition II
Writing about John Updike Wallace Stevens Native American Legends and Literature
Writing about Emily Dickinson Ralph Waldo Emerson Literature and Women
Writing about America Sings the Blues Northern California Writers
Writing about Poems and Pictures
Writing about Shakespeare's Hamlet
Writing about American Indian Identity
Writing about the National Anthem
Writing about Raymond Carver
Finding Articles

The following library databases can be used to find journal articles about topics in the English discipline. Some of these databases will include biographical information, essays, critical and analytical articles, and some reference resources. Please read the description to determine the best database for your needs, or ask for help at the reference desk.

  • Humanities Full-Text
    Indexes articles under the subjects of archaeology, area studies, art, classical studies, communications, dance, film, folklore, gender studies, history, journalism, linguistics, literary & social criticism literature, music, performing arts, philosophy, religion and theology.
  • Literature Online (LION)
    Fully searchable library of more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, 168 full-text literature journals, and other key criticism and reference resources.
  • Literature Resource Center
    Provides access to biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of authors from every age and literary discipline. Combining Gale Group's core literary databases in a single online service, the Literature Resource Center covers more than 120,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists, and other writers, with in-depth coverage of 2,500 of the most-studied authors.
  • MLA International Bibliography
    Indexes journal articles, books, and dissertations. Produced by the Modern Language Association, this database goes back to 1963 and contains over 1.5 million citations from more than 4,400 journals and series and 1,000 book publishers. Coverage is international and subjects include literature, language and linguistics, folklore, literary theory & criticism, dramatic arts, as well as the historical aspects of printing and publishing. Listings on rhetoric and composition and the history, theory and practice of teaching language and literature are also included.
To browse other full-text journals click on the Journals and Newspapers link on the library's homepage and choose “Languages & Literatures” under the “Browse e-journals by Subject” drop-down menu.
Finding Books

To start, browse through the reference collection on the first floor of the library. Most reference books in the field of English will be found in the P’s. Reference books will include such volumes as guides to writing, dictionaries, encyclopedias, overviews of writers or styles of writing, periodical indexes, and more. The following reference books will get you started - some are available online, others are also available in the circulating collection.

Writing

The Associated Press Guide to Punctuation --   REF PE1450 .C34 2003
Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words --   REF PE1460 .B79 2002,   PE1460 .B79 2002 (2nd floor)
The Careful Writer: A Modern Guide to English Usage --   REF PE1460 .B4617 1998
The Elements of Style --   REF PE1408 .S772 2000,   PE1408 .S772 2000 (2nd floor)
The Everyday Writer --   RREF PE1408 .L86 2005 *
Holt Handbook: Grammar, Usage, Mechanics, and Sentences --   REF PE1408 .W37 2003,   PE1408 .W37 2003 (2nd floor)
New York Times Manual of Style and Usage --   RREF PN4783 .N485 1999b *, and available through ebrary
That or Which, and Why: A Usage Guide for Thoughtful Writers and Editors --   REF PE1460 .J46 2007
The Oxford English Grammar --   REF PE1106 .G74 1996
The Writer’s Brief Handbook --   RREF PE1408 .R675 2005 *, PE1408 .R675 2005 (2nd floor)
Writer’s Market --   REF PN161 .W83, PN161.W83 (2nd floor - 2007 ed.)

Language

The International Encyclopedia of Linguistics --   REF P29 .I585 2003 v. 1-4,   P29 .I585 1992 v. 1-4 (2nd floor)
A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics --   REF P29 .C65 1997, and available through Credo Reference

Literature

'
The Art of the Critic --   REF PN86 .A77
The Bloomsbury Dictionary of English Literature --   available through Credo Reference
The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English --   available through Credo Reference
The Columbia Companion to the Twentieth-Century American Short Story --   REF PS374 .S5 C64 2000, and available through Credo Reference
Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry and Anthologies --   REF PN1022 .H39 2002
Contemporary Authors --   REF PN451 .C63
Contemporary Literary Criticsm --   REF PN771 .C59
A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory --   REF PN41 .C83 1998
Dictionary of Shakespeare --   available through Credo Reference
Encyclopedia of the Novel --   REF PN41 .E526 1998
Magill’s Literary Annual --   REF PN44 .M335
Masterplots Annual --   REF PN44 .M3,   REF PN44 .M335,   REF PN44 .M34 1977
MLA International Bibliography --   REF 016.4 M578
Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism --   REF PN771 .G27

Search the library catalog by subject, author, or title. The following are examples of good subject terms to help you begin your research. The books listed under these subject headings will probably be located in the circulating collection on the second floor. Again most books related to the field of English will be located in the P's.

* RREF stands for Ready Reference near the reference desk on the first floor.
** Also try similar searches.

Finding Websites

Subject Directories

Academic Info -- http://www.academicinfo.net/
Internet Public Library -– http://www.ipl.org/
Librarians’ Internet Index -– http://www.lii.org/

Reference Websites

Bartleby -- http://www.bartleby.com/
English Literature on the Web -- http://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/EngLit.html
Purdue Online Writing Lab -- http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

For English related websites discovered since October 2007 please visit my Furl (social website bookmarking resource) site. This site also includes Theatre Arts, History, and General (Reference) websites. Send me an email if you find a website you find interesting that might also help your fellow students.

Need more help finding resources? Email me at kowens@flagler.edu or visit the Library's Reference Desk.
Last Updated: August 20, 2008